Steel Panther @ Download Festival 2014

Steel Panther are the band everyone loves to hate, the trolls have been armed with their online pitchforks since the bands debut album dropped 5 years ago. Instead of running the joke dry and disappearing into the night (probably with your girlfriend, or your mum) they have actually gotten bigger and bigger, to the point where they are now third from top on the main stage at Download, and about to book an arena tour.

It’s really easy to dismiss Steel Panther as just a parody band, and you can literally see some people waiting for the joke to run thin and for the bubble to pop, but I think those people are going to be sorely disappointed, because much like herpes, it looks like we are stuck with Steel Panther for a good while yet.

Which to be honest is fine with me, I like Steel Panther a lot, I mean it helps that my Dad is their lead guitar player, (yes, I am Satchel Jr, Mum says why don’t you ever return her calls?!?). But when I go to a festival, I go to party and Steel Panther are the greatest party band in the game today, and even if an extended set means that we get more jokes than songs, it’s all part of the show.

That’s not to say the band don’t have songs, because they have them in spades. When they roll out the likes of ‘Glory Hole’, ‘Party like it’s the end of the world’, ‘Asian Hooker’ and even the slower likes of ‘Community Property’ you can see every person in the crowd singing a long. But you also think two things, 1) these guys are better than they have any right to me, and 2) these guys could legitimately headline Download one day, because beneath all the smut, the jokes and the fact there are 17 or so very topless girls onstage groping themselves and the band right now, there are some massive tunes at play from a band that are born showmen who in 2-3 years time could easily be the kings of the castle. God help all of us when that day comes, because it could legitimately be the party that ends the world.